Hiding Behind the Shelves
by natsunrende
Summary: RokuShi. Just as Xion thought she could stay as a quiet librarian for as long as her school years, things that she never thought would have happened start to stir in her life. She realised that she too, should open up, for she was not alone. AU
1. Chapter 1

Her teeth were chattering and her fingers were shaking as she dragged a hard-covered book across the sensor installed in the computer's desk. The title of the book appeared on the computer monitor. She took the student's card opposite her and scanned the bar code on the card. The student's name flashed on the screen. Clicking on "borrowed", she then flipped the cover over and chopped the due date on the small little flap pasted on the first page of the book. Shutting the book, she passed it back to the student who paid her a smile.

"Xion," a tall, slender lady with long brunette hair nudged her. She looked around mid-aged but her skin was fairly smooth. "Are you all right, there? You seemed nervous," the lady asked.

Xion grinned narrowly and nodded. "It's just so cold here," she told her. "Other than that, I'm completely fine. Thanks anyways, Mrs Keira."

"The electricians have just fixed the A/C earlier this morning, must be why you're iced cold!" Mrs Kiera joked. Xion chuckled along.

"Well, I'll be going on my lunch break now. Do a good job for me, Xion," Mrs Keira baded goodbye as she swung her brown leather purse over her shoulders. Xion gave a small little wave from behind the desk.

She never liked it when she was left alone during Mrs Keira's lunch break. That would be the time when a handful of cliques would march into the library and make noise and joke so much, that they would start laughing out loud. Because the students in the cliques were all the jocks and popular kids, Xion would feel intimidated to hush them. There was once where she politely asked a boy to keep his tone down and he shot back vulgarities at her.

_Oh boy, here they come, _Xion sighed to herself, looking at her wristwatch as though she was waiting for the signal.

The glass door swung open and a group of student marched in and started laughing about a joke the brown haired boy had said. He was Sora. He was not actually a jock, he was popular for his friendliness and kindness. That was what Xion had heard as she, herself, has never interacted with any of them before. She preferred to stay in a corner, hiding in the shadows.

Her eyes followed the gang as they occupied a large, hexagon shaped table and drew chairs out for themselves. _That table's reserved for the seniors studying for their exams! _Xion thought to herself desperately. None of the students in the gang were taking out anything to study or lest, walking around the shelves to find a book to read. Xion was beginning to think that they were treating the library as their leisure spot.

"Oh, sorry," Xion jolted upwards as a student waved a book in front of her face to catch her attention. She took the student's book and slid it above the sensor, took his student card and scanned the bar code. With a soft 'beep', she returned the card to the student and chopped the due date onto the front of the book.

"Thank you," Xion smiled at the sand brown mullet-hairstyle senior opposite her. She had expected a smile in return as always, but the senior spoke.

"I think you should ask the group over there—" he nodded his head to his right, indicating the Sora gang, "to tone down. Some of us seniors are having a hard time studying for our prelims."

Xion inhaled deeply and forced her head to turn to the now laughing out loud clique.

"You're the student librarian, aren't you? It's your job," the senior gave Xion a good luck wink before walking away.

She did not want him to leave her alone. Xion had a very low self-esteem and she did not want to do it all by herself. But as the mullet-hair senior said, it was _her job_. She tugged the bottom of her grey blazer and walked up to the clique very cautiously. Their laughter were growing louder and ringing into her ears.

"And then Sora landed on Riku as if he was sitting on a movie couch!" Kairi, the shoulder length red head pulled the punch line, making everyone around her burst into fits of laughter. Sora smiled sheepishly and Riku slapped his forehead as if to wipe the memory away.

"Excuse me," Xion muttered rather loudly. It was the third time she had spoken to get their attention. Kairi's laughter died down as her orb-like eyes rolled to Xion.

"Yes?" she responded in a girly tone.

"Um," Xion was shaking. "Do you mind keeping it down? There are others trying to study."

"_Now _you're telling us!" Sora whined. "We've been here all week and you've never said anything about us! Why now?"

"Yeah, the only reason why we're here is because we always thought that the librarian was stupid enough to not chase us out," the boy, who was always wearing a black beanie over his blonde hair, beside Sora added to the complaint.

"Don't tell her that, Seifer!" Kairi elbowed him, sending him to silence. But it seemed that they were still complaining about how they could always have fun and joke as loud as they can when they always came to the library before. Xion was steaming, she could feel herself boiling inside.

"Can you please-?" she placed a very heavy emphasis on the last word. Kairi frowned, "where _else _are we supposed to sit and joke around anyway?"

Xion looked very desperate to chase them out but she had not the heart to shout at them, she was a coward deep down. Yes, they were the popular and cool kids and why should they listen to a nobody like her?

"I think we'd better leave," said a very calm and gentle voice. When Xion looked up, it was the boy opposite Seifer. He blinked his bright sapphire eyes at Xion sympathetically. "This _is_ the library, and the library is for studying and reading. Let's not give her a hard time," he shot a friendly smile at Xion. That smile had disarmed her completely. Her chest was fluttering and she was sure her stomach did a back flip.

"Fine," Sora stood, scratching the back of his head. "Let's leave. See you around, Miss Disciplinia," he said as he passed Xion.

_Was that supposed to be an insult? _She raised an eyebrow in confusion after the whole gang had left.

Xion realized that she had been holding her breath ever since that guy had helped her get his group of friends out of her library. She exhaled greatly, thankful that there was someone like him. Otherwise, she would lose her position in the student librarian committee.

Forcefully clipping her bag shut, Xion rushed to her next class: Advanced Mathematics. It was a new subject for those who had scored a distinction for Elementary Mathematics had a chance to go for a higher level. She made a sharp turn to the left and hurriedly turned the knob to open the wooden door.

"Oh, Miss Kioku, is it?" she came face to face with an aging man with rectangle glasses resting on his nose bridge. Xion nodded.

"Why were you late?" the teacher folded his arms. Xion had spotted the chalk in the middle of his fingers; she had definitely missed at least a quarter of the lesson.

"I got too caught up with my librarian duty and I forgot about the time…" Xion told the teacher. She was unconsciously tapping her fingers together. The teacher heaved a sigh and dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "Since today is your first lesson, I'll let you off. I don't expect anymore incidents like this from you, Miss Kioku," he nodded at Xion who returned a short nod.

She glanced around the room. Everybody was sitting in twos. Great, something that Xion never really liked. She was not good at socializing and she usually sits in a corner alone. But given the situation she was at now, all the seats were taken except for one. She blindly went to the only empty seat, swung her bag down the side of the table's leg and slumped in her chair. She had not really noticed her seatmate until she occurred a problem later.

"So four x square divided by… no wait…" Xion muttered to herself as she furiously canceled out her working. She stared at the quadratic equation that was given to her again. She rearranged the first equation to suit her comfort and after a few substitutions, she got stuck. She moaned to herself and slammed her forehead on the table, showing clear signs of surrender.

"You should use y as the subject instead of x," said her seatmate so suddenly, Xion jolted to an upright position. She turned to her right and realized who her seatmate was; it was that guy in the library who gave Xion funny feelings with his words. The boy chuckled clumsily at Xion's surprised face.

"Try it," he assured her. Xion had taken a few seconds to process what the boy had said to her. She shook her head back to concentration and did as he said. He was right, she had finally gotten the answers for the problem.

"Have you gotten the answer yet?" the boy was leaning so close to her, looking at her workings. Xion nodded, not saying a word.

"That's great, isn't it?" the boy laughed. "Um, I'm Roxas," he suddenly brought up. "I haven't properly introduced myself back at the library…"

Xion nodded, not knowing what to say. Even saying her own name was an effort.

"Xion…" her voice was somewhat ethereal.

"Nice to meet you, Xion!" Roxas beamed at her. "Looks like we'll be Maths buddies from now on!"

**A/N: Hey there! This is my first fanfiction to publish and definitely not my first to write! (: I'll try not to make too many high school dramas. LOL. R&R please for the first time publisher here **

**P.S. I google translated memory and Kioku was chosen as Xion's surname (:**


	2. Chapter 2

The library was, as usual, freezing cold. Xion never liked cold places, she never liked warm places either. She would alternate between hot and cold. She tightened her blazer and sunk in the swivel chair. Mrs Keira was arranging the new arrivals on the book shelf just next to the exit door.

"Um, excuse me," said a very soft and gentle voice. Xion looked up in the midst of rubbing her hands together for warmth. The flaxen petite girl spoke. "Is there a painting guide book somewhere?"

Xion got up and beckoned the girl to follow her. They went further down the library and into a dim lighted corner. She walked to the shelf that was the nearest to the wall and tilted her head up.

"It's there, but I doubt I can reach it," Xion told the girl. The girl stretched her arm, she gave up quickly when her fingers could not even touch the book. Xion tried too. She tiptoed and stretched her arm. She managed an index finger on the spine but she could not pull it out.

"Here," an arm reached out and took the book down, passing it to the blonde. She took the book from the senior's hand and bowed graciously, leaving the place.

Xion was about to return to her desk when the senior caught her wrist.

"Can we talk outside?" he said. "I don't really like to keep my voice down."

Xion withdrew her hand and nodded shyly, returning to the desk to take her bag. She greeted Mrs Keira before leaving the library and into the warm air outside. The mullet hair senior was there, waiting for her. Xion gathered as much oxygen she could inhale and walked to him.

"Hey, I'm Demyx," he held out an arm. Xion bowed her head slightly, "Xion," she said. She realized that Demyx's arm was still held out to her. She took his hand and shook it.

"So!" Demyx exclaimed so suddenly, Xion jumped a little. "I just need you to pass the message from me. Can you ask if Roxas wants to be the vocals in our band?"

Xion raised her eyebrows at Demyx who was grinning so widely and his eyes were widened. She swore she had seen Demyx's pupils dilated.

"Why?" Xion asked.

"Axel thinks it's a good idea," Demyx placed his hands on his hips. "Though our drummer, Zexion never liked Roxas, the majority of us want him back. Since you're his 'Math buddy'," he air quoted at 'Math buddy', "can you pass the message for me?"

Xion shifted her left hand that was clutching onto her bag's strap uncomfortably, avoiding Demyx's eyes. But Demyx refused to stop trying to catch Xion's attention by shoving his face in Xion's direction wherever she turned to look.

"Okay, I'll do it," Xion said finally. Demyx jumped in the air and thanked Xion so profusely. He took her hands together and shook them so vigorously that Demyx was making Xion lose her balance.

"Wait!" Xion stopped Demyx before he skipped away. "How did you know that I was Roxas' 'Math buddy'?" she asked very shyly.

Demyx gave her a mischievous grin as he answered her question. "He told me about you," and off he skipped to the next block of the school.

* * *

Xion made her way down to Advanced Mathematics. She was a tad bit earlier than the previous lesson and there were only a few students in class. She made her way to her seat at the back of the class and took out her homework. The class was given 5 questions to do and Xion could not solve the last one. She furrowed her eyebrows as if waiting for the question to solve by itself.

"Ugh…" she silently grumbled and threw her homework in front blindly. The sound of the exercise book hitting the floor was absent. Xion lifted her head only to embarrass herself. Roxas was holding her exercise book to his face.

"I'm sorry…" she murmured, holding her arm out for her exercise book. Roxas gave her a pleasant smile, handing her the book.

Xion could not bring herself to look at Roxas when he settled in his seat on her right. She stared at the equation again, crumpling her face.

"Hey, Xion," Roxas called her. Xion inhaled deeply as usual before lifting her head up to face Roxas.

"Do you need some help on that?" he offered his exercise book. Xion politely refused. Her mother taught her to try on her own before seeking for help. Obviously, Xion had not even bothered to try but to just curse the equation.

"Roxas," Xion slowly tilted her head to face him who mumbled as a response. "I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" Roxas straightened his posture.

"Um, well…" Xion took a deep breath. "Demyx told me to tell you that his friends think that it's a good idea if you join their band so Demyx wanted me to ask you if you would like to join them…?" she had not taken a break in her sentence. She realized that she must have sounded stupid. She should have just broken down her long-winded sentence, why did she have to be so detailed?

Roxas' smile slowly faded off his face. He turned to face the front, looking distant.

"I- I'm sorry if I offended you," Xion squeaked. She turned away and stared intently at her shoes. Roxas shook his head and snickered.

"It's not your fault," he assured her. "Er… tell Demyx I'm not interested the next time you see him, okay?"

Xion mumbled a 'yes', still not looking at Roxas.

"Sorry I'm late, class," the teacher rushed in, placing his bag on the teacher's chair and setting his laptop down as he wiped his sweat from his forehead.

"Now, let's see that homework I've assigned to you yesterday," he announced. Xion's stomach sank. She groaned and slammed her forehead on her desk, remembering her incomplete work.

* * *

Xion had to stay back after school for her homework was incomplete. Furthermore, her math teacher wanted to make sure that she completes her latest homework assigned to the class on that day.

She glared at the answer on her calculator. It was a long line of decimal value that made Xion's head hurt.

_That's obviously not the answer…_ she sighed and crossed out her working. She tore out the page and scribbled the equation on the next page. Her focus was lost when she heard the calming tone of Roxas, greeting the teacher and making his way to his seat. He fumbled for something that he had left under his desk and stuffed it in his bag.

_Focus, Xion! _Xion squeezed her eyes as she desperately channeled for her focus to return. Just as she thought that Roxas was about to leave, she exhaled.

Roxas took the seat in front of Xion and turned it in a way so that he was facing her. Xion looked up. Roxas gave a cheeky little wave. Xion forced her eyes back on the equation. She pretended to ponder hard until Roxas got what he wants and leave. She looked up, Roxas was still there.

"I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" Roxas asked.

_Of course you are. You're throwing my focus away and I can't concentrate with you around me, _was what she wanted to say but she really enjoyed Roxas' company still. She shook her head and resumed to her homework.

"Mr Kuro told me to stay back with you so I can help," Roxas told her, pulling his chair forward so he could see Xion's working.

"Now that's where you're wrong," Roxas pointed. "You must have punched the values in the calculator wrongly. It should be 5y, not 7y."

Xion's face turned scarlet as she double-checked on her calculator. He was right, again. She canceled the statement and rewrote it.

Within the first few minutes with Roxas' help, Xion had managed to solve two equations. She was left with three more problems.

"Roxas?" called out a familiar voice. Xion lifted her head from the exercise book. It was Sora. She immediately darted his gaze and returned to the calculator, punching in values.

"So this was where you were," Sora said. "Naminé's looking for you."

Roxas gasped. "Oh, is it about today's outing?"

Xion scribbled the new equation.

_x = 3y – 4_

_Substitute it to…_

She thought to herself. She found herself eavesdropping on the boys' conversation and she knew that it was rude of her. But Sora's voice was booming in the classroom that she could hardly ignore him.

"I think so…" Sora folded his arms across his chest. Xion heard Roxas' long sigh. "Tell her I can't make it. I forgot that I have extra lessons for math."

There was a few seconds of silence before Sora spoke. "Oh, sure I'll tell her that. Hey, Disciplinia!" He punched the table beside Xion, making her jump and fall backwards with the chair.

"Sora!" Roxas rolled his eyes accusingly as he bent forward to help Xion up.

"Sorry! I just called her!" Sora reasoned, scratching the back of his neck with a guilty look.

Xion's face heated up. How could something stupid like that make her fall? She quickly withdrew her hand from Roxas' grip and fixed her chair to stand upright.

"She has a name, Sora," Roxas punched Sora lightly on his shoulder. "Her name is Xion… Kioku. Right?"

Xion nodded shyly, looking back down on her exercise book.

"Right!" Sora chuckled. "Sorry about that. I'm Sora Kii." He said. Xion smiled at him and turned to her exercise book in haste. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Sora and Roxas exchange glances and shrugged.

"Well, I'll be going now. See you Roxas and Xion!" Sora waved at them before sprinting out the classroom.

Xion looked up, making sure that Sora was really gone before she spoke.

"You don't have extra lessons," she said.

Roxas raised his brows at her.

"I'm the one who has extra lessons," added Xion.

Roxas smiled at her. "Yeah, but I have to stay with you, don't I? If I told him that I'm just here helping you with work, Sora would just drag me out of the class," he ended off with a chuckle. That chuckle that always made Xion smile.

"Well you two," the teacher stood up, tucking his laptop under his right arm and the other pushing in his chair. "I have to go for a staff meeting today. When you're done you can leave, okay, Xion?" he nodded at Xion who returned the curt nod.

Unconsciously, Xion had solved an equation. She turned to the answers at the back of the textbook to check. Her jaw dropped. She had the answer wrong but the values were close.

"It's a negative if you bring it over," Roxas pointed out. Xion gave him an 'I give up' look before changing the positivity of the values.

"You're doing well, it's just… careless mistakes…" Roxas reassured her. Xion rested her head on the table while she flipped through her exercise book, lifting it up so she was hiding her face. Her brain could take it no more and Roxas somehow saw through her.

"I suppose we can leave," Roxas set the exercise book back on the table to look at her. "Want to go get ice cream?"

Xion fell again, not backwards but straight down, perpendicularly onto the ground.

"Xion!" Roxas stood up and went to her. By the time he tried to reach out for her, Xion pulled herself up.

"I'm sorry… I've got a poor sense of balance…" she created an excuse. It was true, though.

"So… ice cream?" Roxas repeated. Xion had to swallow a few gulps of her own saliva to calm herself down. She nodded.

**A/N: Hey there! Thank you so much for the reviews! (: I truly appreciate each and everyone of your reviews. Also, this chapter is a bit boring because it's only the starting of their bonding in their relationship. I'll try to spice things up a little in the next chapter. Thanks for R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, the ice cream stand is right over here," Roxas gestured for Xion to increase her pace while he ran to the ice cream stand like an excited little boy. Xion could not help but giggle at his child-like self. She jogged to where Roxas was; at a mini ice cream stand with a colour scheme of red, blue and white umbrella.

"Here," Roxas handed Xion a sea-salt falvoured ice cream. It was bright cyan in colour that almost looked inedible. Xion examined it suspiciously then looked up only to find a wide-eyed Roxas staring at her eagerly.

"Try it!" He pestered.

Xion brought the cold treat up to her lips and nibbled. She let the cold mist collapse to her lips and then took a big bite.

"How is it?" asked Roxas, still eagerly staring at her.

"It's sweet… yet salty…" Xion answered. "But it's good," and she took another bite. "It is, isn't it?" Roxas agreed, digging his teeth into the cold treat.

"Roxas!" someone called. Roxas and Xion turned to the voice. "Hey Axel!" Roxas waved his free hand. Xion suddenly seem to be taking an interest on the cement floor.

"You're here early," Axel snickered, running his fingers through his own auburn spiky hair. "And you've brought a guest! Who is she?" He asked, eyeing Xion with great interest. "She's my math buddy. She's Xion," Roxas told him.

"Oh! You're that librarian chick," exclaimed Axel. Xion looked up, "I don't chirp," she retorted. Her eyes darted Axel's when she said that. To her surprise, Axel burst into laughter. "You're so innocent!" he commented. Xion frowned for the first time, _was that supposed to be an insult?_

"One sea-salt ice cream, please," Axel ordered as he made his way to the cashier.

"Xion," Roxas called her, "this is Axel Honou. He's a year older than us and my best friend."

Axel said a muffled 'nice to meet you' with his ice cream in his mouth. Xion grinned at him, stuffing her ice cream in her mouth so that she did not have to say a thing.

Xion followed Roxas and Axel to a nearby park bench and they immediately got into their immense conversation. Xion did not mind, though. Being present with Roxas was enough for her. It was a good thing Axel ran into them as well. Who knows what stupid little events would make her fall if she was alone with Roxas?

"Xion? Hello?" Axel called out, snapping Xion out of her thoughts that were lingering in her head.

"Y- Yes?" she quivered. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening…"

Roxas gave a small smile for some reason as Axel sighed. "I was asking," he said. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Huh?" Xion gazed at the boys with a blank expression.

"Hobbies, Xion," Roxas explained. "Axel's pretty tall, so he plays basketball. And I sometimes join Sora on soccer. I skateboard too. How about you, Xion?" Xion smiled nervously at them as she pondered. _Seriously, what can I even do? _She wondered hopelessly.

"I… read…" she murmured. There was a pin drop silence as Xion turned to look at the boys. Axel started laughing again but Roxas glared at him.

"I think that's a great hobby," he said.

"You do?" Axel and Xion exclaimed in unison.

Roxas shrugged, "yeah. I mean, it widens your imagination and what-not."

"Is that why you joined the librarian community, Xion?" Axel bent over to see her response in case she refused to use words as her answer.

Xion shifted self-consciously in her seat, darting the gazes from Roxas and Axel. "I, uh…" Xion cleared her throat. "I guess you could say that I'm drawn to the books," she forced a smile.

"That makes sense," Axel nodded his head, chewing on the ice cream stick. "Well, I'd better get going. Oh—Roxas, you _really_ don't want to join the band anymore?" he leant closer to Roxas who rolled his eyes, avoiding his gaze.

"All right, fine," Axel chuckled at Roxas' silent response. He felt the ground and got on his feet. "I'll see you two some other time. Take care!" He slung his sling bag over his right shoulder and baded them goodbye as he left.

Xion's ice cream melted so much that her fingers were starting to get sticky. There was no more point in trying to finish it. She threw it over her shoulders and licked her fingers. Roxas was spinning the ice cream stick between his fingers. One was waiting for the other to leave, but neither did.

"Roxas?" uttered Xion after a few seconds of silence. "Why did you bring me out for ice cream?" she asked. "I mean, we're not friends or anything. We're just… seatmates."

Roxas chortled. "That's the whole point," he said. "I think you're pretty cool and well, I'd like to be your friend. The only problem is that you don't talk very often, do you?"

Xion flushed, shaking her head. "I never talked this much to anyone in school before, except for Mrs Keira," she divulged. Her statement had shocked Roxas. "Don't you have – excuse my offense – any friends?" he asked.

Xion shook her head. "My mother told me that I should not trust people too easily," she shrugged matter-of-factly. "And she told me to stay quiet." Roxas gave her a sympathetic look but Xion failed to catch his eyes. "Can I ask you another question?" asked Xion, looking up this time. "Why don't you want to join Demyx and them?"

"Well, why didn't you tell Axel and me the truth in joining the librarian community?" Roxas replied.

"Huh?" Xion furrowed her brows.

"It was obvious," Roxas glared at her. "You were hesitating to speak."

Xion swallowed and felt a lump in her throat.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," Roxas assured her.

Xion tried to smile but her emotions were overpowering her. Roxas bit the ice cream stick into half and littered it on the ground. "We better get going," he suggested. He got off the bench and stretched his arms. "Shouldn't stay out for too long, especially you, Xion," he teased. "You've got Math to do."

Xion pouted but watched her legs swing off the bench. She had not lifted her head until Roxas shoved her school bag in front of her, alarming her so that she jumped in her seat slightly.

The two walked off in the same direction. There was silence except for their footsteps and the wind ruffling through the grass. Xion felt uncomfortable. Twice she had tried to start a conversation but every time her lips parted, nothing came out. She would only pretend to gasp for air and sigh. Occasionally, she would tuck her side hair behind her ear only to let it fall back to her face due to the stubborn wind.

Xion had just realized that Roxas was not taking any further steps. She halted to a stop and looked ahead. She almost bumped into the blonde girl from the library. Xion scooted behind and blindly apologized. She noticed that the blonde was also carrying the painting guidebook from earlier on.

"Fancy meeting you here, Roxas," the girl spoke, her eyes sat upon Roxas as though Xion was not present.

"Oh…" Roxas cleared his throat. "Hey there, Naminé."  
Xion could tell that Roxas was trying hard not to make things seem awkward but it was impossible with that uncomfortable tone of his. Naminé lifted the book that was in her arms, presenting it to Roxas. "I was learning how to paint by my own," she said. "Because we were supposed to paint together today, weren't we?" Roxas nodded. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Xion was inching away from the two.

"Sora told me that you had extra Math lessons with Mr Kuro," Naminé added. She clutched tightly onto the book. "I did, with Xion," said Roxas. "We ended early."

Naminé tilted her head lower in a sorrowful manner. "I see…" she muttered. "Maybe next time we can hang out again, just you and me?"

Roxas smiled faintly. "Yeah, we will."

Naminé's sorrow faded instantly. She beamed at Roxas and hugged her book to her chest. "I'll text you!" she said excitedly and skipped away, leaving yet another uncomfortable atmosphere between Roxas and Xion.

"I'm sorry," Xion murmured.

"What for?" Roxas snickered. Xion bit her lip, "if I had done my homework then you probably won't have to cancel plans with that girl," she said remorsefully. But Roxas just laughed at Xion's guilty conscience. "Things like these happen from time to time!" He assured her. Xion shrugged shyly and muttered a 'yeah'.

"Are you and her... together or…?" Xion found herself raising the question she was asking herself when Naminé showed up. She immediately wanted to kick herself for asking such a sensitive question. She had no right to ask him that. Roxas, however, seemed undisturbed by her curiosity.

"Something like that," he answered casually. "She likes me and all, but I don't really feel the same way. We hang out a lot, though."

Xion did not know what to feel; relief or jealousy. Either way she knew that she should not be feeling what she was feeling. It was not right of her, the two of them barely knew each other, not even each others' favourite colours. She wanted to kick herself again for her feelings.

"I'll be heading this way," Roxas pointed to the right path of the fork they stumbled upon. Xion woke up from cursing herself and waved at Roxas as she walked the other path.

* * *

The next day, Xion spent most of her break time at the newspaper section in a secluded room of the library. She was flipping through the few articles, looking for something urgently. She sighed as she found out that what she was looking for was not there. That was one of the reasons why she signed up to be a librarian. Student librarians had the privilege to view newspapers articles for as long as they want. Other students can only look at the newspaper for a certain amount of time; besides, the students in Tasogare High preferred books to newspapers so it was a good deal for Xion.

"Disciplinia?" she heard someone call her. Xion turned around. Kairi was standing right behind her with a friendly smile planted on her face.

"Hi!" she waved.

Xion tried to smile as hard as she could although she was annoyed with Kairi's girly voice. "Do you need something?" she asked.

"Um, do you have today's paper?" Kairi asked politely, clasping her hands together. Xion looked down at the paper on her lap. She had just recently grabbed it but what she gave up in finding what she was looking for so she just pushed it to Kairi's arms.

"Thanks a lot, Disciplinia!" Kairi said teasingly and ran off to her clique. Xion scowled after her before closing the door to the newspaper room. She made her way back to the desk to do her regular duty.

To her astonishment, Kairi and her group of friends (the usual Sora gang) were quiet and not making a lot of noise. She found herself glancing around, looking for Roxas. He was not anywhere near the gang but with Axel at another corner of the library. He was chatting happily with Axel, holding a book in front of them. They appeared to be making fun of the contents of the book they were possessing but Xion could not make out what book it was. Her eyes were already squinting. Roxas caught her gaze and waved at her, causing her to feel embarrassed and pretended to continue her duty. She glanced at his direction once more. Roxas and Axel were laughing loudly to themselves. Or were _they _the loud ones?

Xion turned to the Sora gang and they were all pointing and laughing at an article in the newspaper Xion had just passed to Kairi. She stopped what she was doing to listen to their conversation.

"Look! It says here…" Seifer pointed, "that their business is falling because they're copying off of other companies!"

"That's quite true," Hayner, a blonde messy hair boy beside Kairi commented. "I mean, the laptops they've built looked especially like the ones in XIII Company. Then again, it failed so badly," he shook his head in disgrace.

"The Kioku Company should really stop what they're doing," Kairi sighed. "The phone I got from them sucked. It wasn't even a week when I got the phone and it electrocuted me when I tried to call Sora once!"

"They're such a bunch of losers!" said Hayner proudly and the gang started laughing.

Xion's heart was pumping so hard. She marched to their table and snatched the newspaper off of Seifer's hands. "Hey!" He grumbled. "Give it back, Disciplinia!"

Xion ignored his words and rushed out of the library feeling utterly embarrassed. She ran as far as she could before settling down to look at the paper. How could someone say that about her brother? She looked up and realized that she was at the cafeteria. She sunk to a nearby bench and tried to catch her breath. She was not an athletic person; she hated running. But that was not the point; the point was to hide any embarrassing information about the Kioku Company from the school. _It's probably useless, _she thought, _Sora and his friends already know. Now they're going to spread it to the entire school._

"You okay?" Xion turned to her left. Roxas was there and so was Axel with Xion's school bag over his shoulders. Xion returned her gaze to the newspaper. Roxas and Axel exchanged looks before joining her on the bench.

"Sorry if they're a little…" Roxas wanted to apologize but stopped in mid-sentence seeing the look on Xion's face. "Is it really important to you?"

Xion said nothing. Roxas and Axel exchanged another depressing looks, both not knowing what to say.

"Xion," Axel spoke. "We don't know anything about you but if you want, we're always here for you." He stopped for a brief moment as he waited for a response for Xion. She gave not even a slightest movement. "Roxas and I—we care about you, alright?" Axel added. "So it would be really great if you trust us in return."

"Yeah," Roxas placed his hand on Xion's, making her face heat up slightly. She finally faced Roxas and Axel and gave them her best smile she could manage. "I trust you," she said.

Roxas and Axel grinned at Xion's words. At last, the bell rung and Xion took her bag from Axel. The three of them waved at each other as they dismissed to their own classes.

"Ready for Math?" Roxas nudged Xion who was forcefully cramming the newspaper into her bag. "Yeah, I did my homework this time," she said proudly. Roxas gave her an encouraging smile before walking ahead. He must have been focused on what was ahead of him because Naminé was standing by the side. She had raised an arm to call out for Roxas only to be ignored by him. Xion and Naminé stared at each other for a while, both wondering what the other was thinking. Xion felt immensely uncomfortable. She walked briskly past Naminé, not exchanging another look in the eye.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh dear, oh dear," Xion's mother murmured to herself. She was frantically searching the house for something when Xion stepped into the house.  
"Mom?" she called. "Is there something wrong?"

Xion's mother, Rinoa bore many resemblance of Xion. Her hair was black with caramel streaks and it was waist-length. Her protuberant eyes were dark, just like Xion's. She turned on her heels and faced Xion, forcing a smile upon her face. "Oh, welcome home, Xion dear!"

Xion eyed her suspiciously. "Mom, are you sure there isn't anything wrong?" she pressed.  
Rinoa shrugged, "oh, you know," she said nonchalantly. "I've gotten a cough and we're out of medicine—it's nothing, really." She waved her hand to dismiss the conversation but Xion was not buying it.

"It's not 'nothing'!" Xion argued. "Geez, mom. You're always so stubborn with things," she sighed and headed to her room. "Pass me the money and I'll buy the medicine," she shouted before she closed the door to change.

* * *

Xion sat at the bench outside the clinic. The doctor told her to wait outside. For the clinic was understaffed and somehow it was packed with ill patients, it would take awhile for the doctors to bring out the medicine Xion's mother needed. She fiddled with her cellphone although there was nothing interesting in it. She always felt the need to fidget about.

"Xion?" said a throaty voice.

Xion looked up, Sora was there carrying a plastic bag in each of his hand. He passed the smaller plastic bag to her. "The doctor told me to pass this to a certain 'small, black haired girl'," Sora laughed.  
"I- I'm not small…" Xion blushed and took the plastic bag. Sora chuckled and took a seat beside her. "Your personality really alters a lot," he commented. Xion could not make out whether it was a compliment or an insult so she just stared blankly at the floor. She wanted to go home right away and avoid the awkward conversation with Sora. That was impossible. He was quite a chatterbox.

"You're so quiet when you're in the library alone and when you're around Roxas, you turn into a tomato," Sora laughed at his own joke. Xion felt her shoulders tense at Sora's comment.

"You don't know that," Xion tried her best to retort.

"Roxas was the one who told me that," Sora shot her a mischievous look. Xion felt her face getting hotter at the mention of Roxas. She got up on her feet immediately and turned to the direction of her home.

"Wait!" Sora ran to catch up with her. "Look! You're _really _a tomato now!" he pointed at her nose. Xion clapped her hands on her cheek in a desperate attempt to hide her face.

"Do you like Roxas?" Sora finally asked.

"N- No…" Xion was now using the plastic bag to hide her face. Sora pushed it away from her face. "Yeah you do," he teased.

Xion could think of nothing but to change the subject at once. "Wh- what are you here for, anyway?" she brought up. Sora blinked hard, as if he had forgotten for a moment that he had a bag of medicine in his hand. "Oh, this is for me. I'm having sore throat so I went for a check up… they told me to take these…" he shook the plastic bag in his hand. Xion could think of nothing to say except "take care of yourself, then."

"Yeah!" Sora waved at her and took steps back. "By the way, you don't have to hide yourself, you know?"  
Xion tilted her head in confusion. What in the world was Sora talking about?  
"I mean I know our friends _may _be a little stuck-up sometimes," he continued.  
_A little? _thought Xion as an image of Kairi flicking her crimson red hair proudly off her shoulders appeared in her mind.  
"But you really shouldn't keep hiding in the library or behind the books. You're a cool girl, Xion."

At that moment, Xion had lost all senses. Someone had complimented her. When Roxas did, she thought that he was just being a nice guy but there standing right before her was Sora, the most popular guy in school. He had just called her 'cool'.

"So I'll ask Roxas if he likes you 'kay?" Sora laughed in a grating manner and ran off before Xion could even stop him. Oh, what will she even be looking forward to in the next class with Roxas?

As she was walking back home, she did a little thinking. Maybe not _a little, _but she did ponder. Sora had said _'Roxas was the one who told me that'. _And a few days ago, Demyx had also mentioned something quite alike.

_'He told me about you'._

_Why was Roxas telling his friends about her?_ Xion wondered, feeling sort of afraid. _Did he think that I was weird?_ She could feel her heart pumping against her chest; it was as if it was going to tear out of her body. That sounded brutal but there was no other way to describe it. _Maybe…_ her thoughts continued to accumulate. _Maybe he likes me? That makes sense… right? He's been spending quite a lot of time with me recently.  
_Xion had tripped over a tower of pebbles a small group of children were stacking for fun. She fell flat onto the ground sarcastiacally congratulating herself for being so clumsy. "Okay… maybe he doesn't…" she murmured to herself as she got up on her feet and rubbed the red spot on her forehead.

_That's impossible. Who would like me anyway? I'm just a…_

_I'm just a nobody. _

* * *

Not feeling too well the next day, Xion had her head on her desk throughout all the classes she was in. She had not gotten a wink of sleep last night. She had a mountain pile of homework and just as she thought she was finally sleepy, thoughts about her family start to run in her head. Her father was nowhere to be seen after he went to serve in the military, her mother was always sick and her brother's company was just dying. Not to mention that she had made herself fathom over something so fantasy-like. _Roxas probably just thinks of me as his Math buddy. Nothing more. That's it. _She kept trying to console herself but how could she? It was Advanced Mathematics next and she still had not calmed herself down.

"Miss Kioku? Miss Xion Kioku, please!"

Xion opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep in Math. Everyone was looking at her. Embarrassment plunged into her chest and her face went red. "Are you all right, Miss Kioku?" Mr Kuro questioned. Xion rubbed her eyes in an attempt to fix her blurry vision. "I think so… sorry…" she softly apologized. People around her were shaking their heads in disappointment or silently laughing at her. She didn't mind, it was not something uncommon. When she lifted her hand away from her face, her vision was still clouded. Her eyelids felt heavy. She tried to lift her head. Squinting her eyes to the blackboard, she struggled to make out the questions that they were supposed to do. It was a good thing Roxas mumbled the pages out loud for she could still not see. She ran her fingers over the pages of her textbook in search of page 140.

"Xion… that's your English textbook…" Roxas pointed out.

Xion withdrew her hands from her desk. Her vision had not focused one bit. She squeezed her eyes and shook her head, hoping that her vision would return but eyelids were glued together. Her head became heavy. She felt her body hit the cold floor.

"Xion!" She could hear Roxas' voice just beside her. Oh how she wished she could open her eyes and look at him up close but she felt abnormally weak.

* * *

"Do you think she's going to be okay?"

"I'm sure. Come on, Roxas! Don't drag your hopes down. The nurse said that she's just over exhausted."

"Yeah… you're right, Axel. I shouldn't worry too much."

Xion jolted to a 90 degree sitting position. Axel and Roxas' faces were the first thing she saw made her flutter inside. "Hey, look who decided to finally wake up," chuckled Axel.

"What about class?" Xion asked. Her voice was very soft-spoken.

"Look at the clock, Miss Kioku," Roxas pointed at the wallclock mounted behind him. It was already 15 minutes passed the dismissal time. "But don't worry, we didn't skip classes just to see you. We visit when we have time," Roxas told her.

"_We didn't skip classes just to see you,_" Axel imitated Roxas. "How assuring."

"Shut up, Axel," Roxas playfully punched Axel who returned it by lightly flicking his head. Xion smiled at their play. She felt at peace whenever she's with Roxas and Axel. The two of them always seem to brighten her mood.

"You two are lucky," she uttered. Axel and Roxas stopped punching each other to look at Xion. "I always wanted a friend who I can play with all the time and just be together…" she tapped her fingertips together. "It's the one thing I've always wanted."

"What are you talking about?" Axel stood up out of the blue very firmly. "You're our friend! Why else would we come and visit you, Xion?"

"Yeah," Roxas nodded in agreement. "You don't need lots of friends. You just need us!" He placed his hand to his chest as he said this whole-heartedly. "Because together, we're the sea salt family!" Axel chuckled. "Got it memorized, you two?"  
Xion could not hold it in anymore. She burst into fits of laughter and so did the boys. Xion was laughing the hardest. Tears started to crawl out of her eyes. She wiped them away but they kept crawling out. Their laughter finally died down with a cough from Axel.

"I hear a lot of laughing," said a silvery female voice. Aqua, the school nurse walked in. She was a very tall and beautiful lady and even got asked out by some male students. Even a handful of the girls in the school admire her for her beauty. She tucked her blue hair behind her ears and smiled at Xion. "That must mean that you're feeling better, Xion?" Xion nodded.

"Okay, you three can go now," said Aqua as she handed Xion's schoolbag to her. "Just remember to eat more and sleep earlier, okay? No staying up late tonight." She poked Xion's cheeks playfully.

"I promise," Xion assured her.

"Yahoo!" Axel cheered as soon as they were out of the nurse's office. "Let's go get ice cream!" He was the fastest among the three (only because he was the only one who was running) to reach the ice cream stand. "Hurry up, slow-pokes!" He shouted at Xion and Roxas who were dragging their feet tiredly to catch up with Axel.

"He's always this hyper when it comes to ice cream," Roxas told Xion with a face-palm. Xion did not mind though. She thought it was silly of Axel. "Silly in a good way," she said.

When they reached the ice cream stand and got their ice creams, Axel was already running to the clock tower. He was wielding two ice creams in his hands even though he already has one in his mouth. "All for me!" he exclaimed through a stuffed mouth.  
"Let's go," Roxas beckoned to Xion as they made their way to the clock tower.

"Hey Xion," Roxas stopped in his tracks. Xion was already licking her cold treat but Roxas had not taken a nibble of it.

"Yesterday, Sora told me something…" he said.

Xion could feel her face getting warmer. She averted his gaze and stared at her ice cream finding whatever there was to admire.

"And well—"

_He's going to reject me!_ She thought depressingly. _Stupid Sora!_

"Yes it's true!" She squeaked.

"What?" Roxas tilted his head. His ice cream was already starting to melt and drip on the floor.

"What?" Xion echoed him.

"Huh?" Roxas confused themselves further. "I was going to say that he met you when he went to the clinic yesterday for his sore throat…"

"Oh…" Xion tensed her shoulders. "Yes… it's true…" she mumbled. Roxas chuckled and finally bit his ice cream. They continued to make their way to the clock tower to meet Axel up on the rooftop. "What did you think I was going to say?" he asked. Xion was still avoiding his eyes. "Oh… nothing…" she proceeded to nibble on her ice cream.

**A/N: If Rinoa had Xion as a child, shouldn't her surname be Heartlily or Leonhart? I've just noticed this while writing it. LOL. So I'm putting this Author's Note here just for this: I prefer it if the characters' surnames have a deep meaning from the game when I'm writing AU. Like, Kioku(記憶****) is memory and Kii(キー****) is... key.. :'D (deep meaning indeed /shot). Just a little something in case people get bothered by the characters' surnames (I'm sorry I'm weird) Thanks for R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey cousin!" exclaimed Sora as he burst into Roxas' room so energetically that Roxas dropped the book he was reading out of surprise.

"Can't you knock before you come in?" Roxas grumbled. Sora responded with a cheeky smile and hopped onto the bed.

"Guess who I met at the clinic just now?" Sora's grin widened. Roxas rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, who?" he replied uninterestedly. He challenged himself to use his toes to pick up his comic book he dropped. _Almost there… _he motivated himself as his toes struggled to carry the book up like a crane.

"I met Xion!" said Sora. Roxas' toes failed to keep the book in place and dropped onto the floor again.

"Really? How was she?" Roxas slowly shifted in his position to face Sora who wasted no second in continuing the conversation. "She was red in the face just like what you said! But you know what's the weird thing, Roxas?" He pressed. Without waiting a response, Sora blabbered on. "She only turns into a tomato when I talk about you. It's obvious that she likes you, Roxas."

Roxas said nothing but sniggered at his mischievous cousin's opinion. The laziness left him and he bent forward, reaching out for his comic book and finally grabbing it. He delivered it up to his bed.

"I'm serious, Roxas," Sora added. "Do you like Xion or what?"  
Roxas threw the comic book at Sora's face, knocking down backwards. "Hey!" Sora got up and threw the comic book at Roxas' chest. "That was uncalled for!"  
"I don't like her," Roxas frowned.  
"Then what, you like Naminé?" Sora pestered. Roxas was getting annoyed with his busybody cousin. He felt the need to chase him out. So he got on his feet and dragged Sora out of his room by his arm.

"Don't come in here anymore," he warned Sora as he shut the door in front of his face.

Sora was always too energetic for the passive Roxas, it was always tiring to engage in a conversation with him. Roxas scratched the back of his head and threw himself on his bed, tummy down. He pulled out his teal-shell flip-phone from under his pillow and checked for messages: two from Axel and one from Naminé. He went to check Naminé's message first but did not reply.

_"Hi Roxas! Do you want to go to an art museum with me? I've got two tickets! It's okay if you don't want to come, I just hope you'll give me a reply."_

He sighed and hugged his pillow. Roxas and Naminé, the two of them were once together and were considered the cutest couple in school, save for Sora and Kairi. But nobody knew the truth. Their relationship was one-sided. The two never dated. It was rumours but it was seemingly true. He remembered the day Naminé confessed to him about her love, how she first admired Roxas in art class and slowly grew fond of him. He rejected her, he did. But something about Naminé made her passionate about getting Roxas' attention. Naminé was a shy introvert who always tagged along with her best friend Kairi wherever she goes. Naturally, Roxas felt sympathetic towards her and decided that perhaps the two of them can still hang out. He looked out for Naminé and was always friendly towards her that she became extremely clingy to him. So clingy that they started looking like a couple. He was all right with her clinginess but as the time went by, she went overboard. Roxas had to kick her senses together. "We are _not _dating! We're only friends, remember?" He assured her very sternly. "I know your feelings for me, Naminé, but I just don't feel the same way. I hope you'll understand."

Roxas did his best to stay modest and gentle with Naminé. A few tears rolled down her cheeks but she accepted Roxas' view. However, Seifer was around at that time. He never liked Roxas and would do anything to ruin his reputation. So he spread rumours around the school that Roxas had broken Naminé's heart.

Roxas never understood love and why love was the main topic in almost everything. Since then, he tried to avoid girls of his age. Xion was an exception, she _chose _to sit next to him and she had trouble with Math, and she was being bullied by Sora, and she was always in that library. _She needed a little company,_ thought Roxas. _That's why I brought her out with us for ice cream._

* * *

Sora's question about Roxas liking Xion lingered in his head as he watched Axel and Xion converse happily. What if he _did _like Xion?

"Can you believe it?" Axel flailed his arms around the air to add effect to the story he was telling Xion. "That jerk Saix stole the ball from me! And to think that he was on _my _team,"  
"Gee, Axel, this 'Saix' person sounds scary," commented Xion.  
"He is," Roxas joined the conversation. "One time I accidentally spilt my pudding on his uniform—you would not want to see that look on his face. He looked as if he wanted to kill me!" Roxas shuddered at the memory of the intimidating blue-haired Saix.  
"He would have if I weren't there to the rescue!" Axel boasted, as he took a bite on his third ice cream.  
"Oh yeah, that's how we met," Roxas smiled. Xion smiled too upon the looks on the boys. For once she had friends, friends to keep her company and no matter what they did, a smile would plant on her face. She loved this feeling. It made her feel convinced that she was not alone in the world.

"I should go soon," announced Xion as she remembered the time. "I have to take care of my mom," she hastily picked up her bag. "Um, thanks, you guys. It was fun today," she blushed. She felt extremely perky that she did not want to leave her friends.

"See you next week, Xion!" Roxas waved, so did Axel.

It was quieter when Xion left. Axel finished his last ice cream without a word from the other. Roxas sighed as they watched the sky turned red. "Hey Axel," he finally spoke. "Do you love anyone?"

Axel gazed at Roxas without the slightest movement of his head. He threw his last ice cream stick to his left where the other sticks were. "Hm..." he pondered with a heavy exhale. "My family, I guess. But if you're asking about that other thing, then no. I'm not brave enough to get into a relationship after what happened with Larxene." He shook his head. Roxas chuckled, "oh yeah. She beat you up pretty bad," he reminisced.  
Axel cringed at the memory. "Why the sudden question?" he asked but he found the answer too quickly. "You like Xion, don't you?"

"What? No I don't!" Roxas argued.

"No you don't like Xion, or no you don't _don't _like Xion?" Axel jested. Roxas punched his shoulder lightly, wanting to end the stupid quarrel. Roxas then fell silent and spoke only after a few seconds. "That's that Sora thought too."  
"It looks kind of that way," Axel mentioned. Roxas ran his fingers through his own hair with a snicker. "Does it?" he laughed. "To be honest, Axel, I don't really know if I like her or not. I usually avoid all these stupid emotions but something about being with Xion makes me feel…" he gulped. "Off…"

Wordlessly, Axel reached for his school bag and pulled out a notebook and a pen. He began scribbling on it, making Roxas curious.

"Wat'cha got there?" he asked. Axel said nothing but continued to scribble. "Done!" he exclaimed as he capped the pen and tore out the page from the notebook and handed it to Roxas. Axel had written down a list of things Roxas would feel if he really liked Xion.  
"When you meet her again, check the following factors, okay? That will show you if you really have feelings for Xion," Axel explained. Roxas scanned the list, trying to hold in his laughter. Axel's handwriting was like a 4-year-old's. "Thanks, Axel," he managed.

* * *

"Here you go, Xion," the doctor, who Xion addressed as Even, passed her the box of painkillers her mother requested. "How's Rinoa doing?" he asked.  
"Good, getting better," Xion answered curtly. She's been going to the clinic so often, she was establishing relationships with the doctors in charge. It was awkward for Xion for they were all adults. The only girl she met of her age was a petite one named Yuffie Kisaragi. She was a daughter of one of the doctors and she'd always accompany her mother around the clinic. Yuffie had tried many times to talk to Xion but being the shy girl she was, Xion only nodded at her, never uttered a single word.

Xion stepped out into the open air. It was pretty stuffy in the clinic as the air-conditioner was spoiled. _I hope they do something about the A/C soon… it could affect the people in there, _Xion thought to herself.

"There she is," she heard a familiar voice. At first she chose to ignore it but another voice called her. "Xion! Wait!" She twisted her body to identify who was calling. The cheery Demyx and brunette Sora were running to her.

"Come with us!" Demyx took her hand and ran off, not revealing where they were going to go.

They had brought her to Sora's house. "Why did you bring me here?" Xion eyed the two. Sora nudged Demyx, forcing him to be the one to tell her the reason. "We… er…." Demyx scratched the back of his head. "We need you to persuade Roxas to be in our band!" Demyx clapped his hands together and bowed as low as he could, pleading Xion. "Please do what you can!"

Xion did not even have a say and Sora pushed her to Roxas' room. ('You have a guest!' he shouted as he burst through his room.)

"What?" Roxas looked up from his study desk. Xion was puzzled, she turned to the door but Sora slammed it in her face. Slowly, she faced Roxas whose mouth was still agape. Xion scuttled away from him as the awkwardness burgeoned in the silence. Roxas grinned at her, "do you want a drink or anything?" he asked politely. Xion shook her head, "no thanks, I'm good."

"So um…" Roxas rotated his swivel chair so he was facing her. He gestured her to take a seat on his bed which Xion hesitated. "What brings you here?" Roxas asked. Xion played with her fingers to ease the ambience. "Demyx and Sora brought me here…" she stammered. "Demyx wanted me to persuade you to join his band…"  
She forced herself to look up. Roxas rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "he's really going this far just for the band, huh."

Xion said nothing. She knew that it was a sensitive topic to Roxas and she did not want to fuel the awkwardness. Her eyes explored Roxas' room. It was a fairly neat room. Beside his study table stood a tall and filled bookshelf. She moved towards the bookshelf and examined the books.

"You read all these?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, some of them..." said Roxas feebly. "I only read comic books…" he confessed as a slight pink crept up his cheeks.

"That's cool," Xion commented, still looking through the many books.

"Really?" Roxas brightened up. "I thought a person like you would find it lame. Considering that you're drawn to the books."

Xion smiled faintly and dropped her hands on her lap. "I actually joined the librarian community because of the newspapers, not the books," she mumbled. Roxas straightened his posture at this.

"The newspapers? Why?" he asked.

"Because student librarians get access to the newspapers with no limits. I can view them when and wherever I want," Xion continued. "You see, my dad hasn't returned from his military service four months ago and we haven't received any news from him. I search the newspaper for any reports on the army my dad's in."

Roxas was at a loss of words. He desperately searched the right things to say in his head but to no avail. Fortunately for him, Xion spoke. "It doesn't bother me though, as long as there aren't any reports of him going missing…" she trailed off as she stared at the ground. This made Roxas' loss-of-words-crisis worse. "Oh…" he muttered. "Gosh… er… I'm so sorry, Xion…" he rolled his chair closer to her but Xion just gave him an odd look. "What for?" she said.

Roxas started spluttering, "sorry… I'm just bad at times like these," and he chuckled unconfidently. Xion joined in, giggling. "You're just as awkward as I am," she teased.

"Hey! I am _not _awkward!" retorted Roxas.

"You were, just now," Xion joked. Roxas gave a defeated sigh but laughed along with her.

"So I'll just tell Demyx that you won't join them?" Xion spoke first when their laughters died down.

Roxas never realized that he was dazed. He had to shake his head to retain his focus. "Yeah… you go do that," he said. Xion's face lit up even brighter as she gave Roxas a goodbye-nod before she left him alone in his room.

Roxas exhaled. As soon as he was sure Xion was gone, he rushed to his schoolbag and rummaged through it. "Gotcha!" he pulled out Axel's list that was given to him earlier. He looked through it for any factors that he had experienced.

_The Great Axel's List of Factors of liking a person!_

_Fluttery feeling in your tummy/chest_

_Wants to fill up the silence desperately_

_At times like the above, usually is not able to find an appropriate topic or words_

_…_

Clicking his pen, Roxas placed two small ticks beside the second and the third factor.


	6. Chapter 6

The gray clouds covered the beautiful blue sky, blocking out the warm rays of the sun. Raindrops slowly and rhythmically fell onto the hard floor of Twilight Town. Gradually, the rhythm increased and there were more raindrops pouring. Kairi sighed at the depressing weather. She was supposed to meet her friends at the mall. Unfortunately for her, when she alighted the bus did the rain started pouring. She was stuck at the bus stop until it clears. She whipped out her cell phone from her pocket and texted Naminé and Olette that she was going to be late. What a bummer, too. The girls were going to paint their nails and do their hair before they go out and meet the boys. Kairi rubbed her hands together for warmth. The wind was getting stronger and the temperature was dropping.

"Need a lift?" said a small voice beside her. Kairi almost jumped from shock at the voice. She identified the girl already as 'Disciplinia'. She was wearing a dark black hoodie and long blue pants carrying a plain blue umbrella, sheltering her from the rain.  
"This umbrella's big enough for two," Xion added. Kairi didn't want to join her because of their bad relation with each other in school but because she was running late, she had no choice.

"Where are you headed to?" Xion asked.

"Olette's house," responded Kairi softly. Xion was almost surprised that the most popular girl in school could actually be a bit of an introvert at times like these. They reached a traffic post. Pushing the button, they waited for the green man to light up.

"Where did you come from?" Kairi asked, conjuring up a conversation.

"Local library," said Xion.

"You're a librarian there too?"

Xion shook her head. "That's where I go to on the weekends."

The green man lit up and the girls crossed the street, gripping onto the umbrella tightly so that neither of them would get wet.  
"_Every _weekend?" Kairi asked. Xion nodded. The two had not met each other's eyes at all throughout their coincidental meeting.  
"Do you want to hang out with us?" Kairi invited. Xion politely rejected but Kairi was persistent about it. "You've got to be more outgoing, Disciplinia," she lectured.  
"I'm fine staying quiet," Xion replied. They reached the semi-detached house of Olette's, the DiCicco residence shortly after their conversation. The rain was starting to subside too.

"Thanks for the lift, Disciplinia," Kairi smiled.

"It's Xion," Xion replied.

"Oh, whoops," Kairi giggled. "Are you sure you don't want to hang? The guys will be here later, including Roxas."

Xion waved her arm in a form of rejection. "I'm good, thank you," she said. Kairi shrugged and dialed Olette's number on her phone.  
"Hey, Olette? I'm outside your gate, open up!" she spoke. As soon as she hung up, the gates opened for her.

"Bye Xion," Kairi waved at her before skipping into the house. Xion pulled the drawstrings of her hoodie and walked in the opposite direction. It took her awhile to realize that she was lost.

_I've never walked by here before._ She gulped. She pulled her grey hoodie over her face and walked on. Xion had very low self-esteem, which was natural and common for a typical teenager introvert. She was easily afraid of speaking to people to ask for directions. Just as she was about to pull her hoodie up, she had spotted a familiar flaxen petite girl heading her way. Hoping that she was still unseen, Xion brisk walked.

"Hey, Xion? That's you, right? Xion!" called a boy's voice. She didn't want to turn around, she stopped in her tracks and tried to keep her breath stable.  
"Hey, Xion!" Sora patted her back. Xion huffed out of surprise. She slowly turned to Sora and Naminé with a friendly smile.  
"You heading to Olette's house too?" he asked. Xion shook her head, she didn't feel comfortable speaking around Naminé although Naminé was desperately trying to catch Xion's gaze.  
"That's too bad, it's going to be fun!" Sora sighed. "Roxas is coming along, you know."

At the corner of her eyes, Xion noticed Naminé twitched a little and turned her head away with her hand cupping her mouth.

"I, um…" Xion spoke.

"Hello, Xion," Naminé finally said. "Want to go get a drink? There's a vending machine nearby," she invitingly asked. Xion gulped, she didn't want a rival. She knew that Naminé liked Roxas as much as she did, but she did not want a friction.  
"It's okay, Sora, you go on. I'll catch up with you later," Naminé baded Sora goodbye before they parted ways.  
"The vending machine's this way, Xion," Naminé held out her arm to the direction and walked ahead with a confused Xion tailing her.

"Catch," Naminé she threw a can of Melon juice at Xion, who juggled the can on her palms several times before grasping a hold of it.

"How much was that?" Xion asked, fumbling through her pockets for her wallet.

"Huh? Oh no, you don't have to pay me back," Naminé politely waved her hands to stop Xion from getting her wallet. "It's a treat."

"Why?" Xion asked. Naminé pulled the tab of the can and broke through the tin-plated steel of the lid, creating an opening. She lifted the cold drink to her lips and sipped before answering. "Why not? Are you possibly thinking that we can't be friends just because we like the same person?"  
Xion's face went red, "what are you saying…" she uttered.

"It's obvious, Xion," Naminé said. "Even Roxas likes you."

"Huh?!" Xion almost choked on her drink. "You're lying!"

"Am not. He keeps telling our clique about you and he really wanted to invite you to Olette's party today but Riku didn't want him to."  
Xion looked away. "Riku doesn't like me very much, does he?" she sighed. It was normal for anyone to hate her, she was used to not having any friends.  
"No, Riku's not like that," said Naminé reassuringly. "He just doesn't know you that well and he prefers to hang out with people he's close to. Why don't you try talking to him in school then maybe he'll invite you for the next hangout?"

The thought of conversing with someone, especially Riku who always has a strict expression on his face and was loved and admired by every girl in school made her stomach do a backflip. She could not possibly make acquaintances with that boy.  
"No thanks, I'll pass," said Xion softly.

"Shy, aren't you?" Naminé said softly as she crushed the now empty can. She had a strong grip for a skinny little girl. "I understand."

Xion sighed. "I just have a problem with socializing."

"Is there something bothering you, Xion?" Naminé took her hands delicately. Xion shrugged, "yeah, I guess. But I'm always a shy-tard so it's not a big deal," she said. Naminé squeezed her hands, "I understand you completely, Xion. It's not fun being left out in the corner while everyone else is socializing, is it?"

Xion's liking towards her started to slowly go down the drain. Naminé just made her feel worse about herself. "I'll see you in school," Xion quickly greeted and pulled her hood over her face to escape from Naminé.

* * *

Riku was intimidating, he was. Xion recognized his face as a playmate when she was younger. She would always go to the nearby playground to play and she had a playmate. Xion could not remember his name, though.

"Xion Kioku!" called a strict voice.

Xion jerked up from her table again. Her English teacher, Miss Larxene, screamed into her ear. She enjoyed torturing students very much, yet she was a very secretive and sensitive young lady. She did not allow anyone in school to know her last name, so she wanted everybody to address her as 'Miss Larxene'.

"Sleeping again, Miss Kioku? One more time and it'll be detention!" Miss Larxene threatened then returned to the whiteboard and continued with her lecture. Xion's Monday did not start out too well.

It got worse when recess arrived.

Other than the library, Xion liked to stay in her class and read books when it was recess. The thought of going down to the canteen, squeezing through the queue with your plate of ordered food and the possibility of tripping and dropping your food all over the place intimidated Xion. She never liked crowds. She could not keep her focus onto her book. There were two students arguing by the threshold of the classroom's door. She peeked from behind her book to see Pence, the class representative of Xion's class blocking the way of who seemed to be, Riku.

"Just get Xion over here," he grunted. Xion felt her heart pounding again. What could the cool Riku want with her? She lifted her book to hide herself from him. It was pointless, Riku had already spotted her.

"Harry Potter?" Riku snatched the book out of her hands and examined its cover. "You still read these?"

Xion flushed. "There's nothing wrong about it," she retorted. Riku surprisingly chuckled, "you're right. Just surprised that there's another Potterhead around here."  
Xion grumbled and firmly snatched her book from Riku. She flipped through the book in search of the page she left off. Unable to find it, she silently cursed Riku.  
"I can't believe you're only at the 4th book," Riku spoke again. "How long have you been reading it, anyway?"

Xion rolled her eyes. "What are _you _doing here anyway," she said irritably. Riku cocked his head as if he had forgotten the reason for a moment. "Oh yeah, I wanted to get your number," he said.

"M- My—what? My _number_?!" Xion's insides squirmed. After all the movies she watched, she knew that asking for a girl's number was a method of a guy hitting on her. "Wh- why?!" she quivered.

As if reading her thoughts, Riku waved his hand. "I'm not hitting on you or anything. I figured since you've been hanging around a lot with Sora, maybe we should get to know each other."

_Through texting? _Xion thought. Relentlessly, she dialed her number on Riku's phone. He gave a little mischievous smirk after he pocketed his phone. "I'm going to give Roxas your number," he teased.  
"What?!" Xion almost screamed. Her voice was never this loud before, naturally she felt embarrassed.  
"I won't!" Riku laughed. "But can you tell me something?" His voice turned into a whisper. He leant forward to Xion, who was trying to keep her breathing stable.

"Do you like Roxas?"

"Why does everyone think that?" Xion hid her face behind her book once again. She knew the answer already. "Because it's obvious." Riku pulled her book down on the table and away from her face, "if you tell me, I won't give Roxas your number. And tell me the truth, you can trust me," he smirked. Xion felt warm on her face. She cupped her mouth as she mumbled her answer.

"Pardon me?" Riku said sincerely. There was a few seconds of silence before Xion answered him again.

"…yeah… I do…" she said.

Riku giggled and bolted out the classroom. "Roxas!" he shouted. "Roxas! I have _great _news for you!"

He couldn't _possibly _be telling it to Roxas, could he? She abandoned her seat and chased after Riku. He was making his way to Roxas' class, he really was going to tell him.  
To make matters worse, she bumped into Naminé. Papers flew out of her arms and scattered all over the hall. Feeling guilty, Xion went to help gather it together. Naminé never gave her any look of friendliness like that day. She had a very blank expression that somehow looked sorrowful. It was almost as if there were two sides of Naminé. Xion started to wonder where Kairi was, if the two of them were actually best friends.

"Sorry," said Xion as sincerely as she could as she handed Naminé the papers she collected and continued her chase. To her horror, she spotted Riku speaking with Roxas animatedly. Her stomach twisted. Oh how she hoped she had her librarian duty so that she did not meet Riku in class, which led to this. Roxas pushed his way past Riku and stood in front of Xion. The two of them exchanged awkward smiles.

"Hi," Roxas spoke.

"Hello," Xion forced. She darted his eyes.

When there was a short silence, Riku lightly kicked Roxas' leg.

"So um," Roxas inhaled. "Hi."

"Hello," Xion said once again, keeping her laughter inside.

"Roxas!" Riku grumbled.

The bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Xion silently thanked the bell for she did not want any more awkward silences to spend with Roxas.

"See you in math," he greeted Xion.

"See you," she waved. Riku sighed frustratingly and walked ahead with Roxas. Xion briskly walked to her next class.

Oddly enough, Naminé was still lurking around the hall where she had dropped all her papers. She was acting strange. Curious, Xion went up and tapped her on her shoulder. It was as if she was stoned to the ground.

"Naminé?" Xion called her, softly. When she did not respond, she shook her.

"Oh, Xion," Naminé smiled at her. "Sorry, my mind wandered off a bit."

_A bit? _Xion doubted that. When she was about to leave Naminé, she collapsed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Naminé!" Xion shook her again. She was unconscious. Xion placed a hand on her neck, checking for any temperature. She wasn't sure about what to do. She looked around the hall, there was no one left. The two of them were alone. Heaving, she tried carrying Naminé on her back.  
Bearing her weight on her legs, Xion brought her down to the nurses' office. She knew Naminé was strange, but it looked like she did not know enough about her.

**A/N: Hey there! Sorry for not updating constantly! I'm really busy with school. Unfortunately, I won't be updating as quick in the 2013 for I will be taking my national exam this year. Also, sorry if it gets confusing here, I wanted to make every character significant in their own way. I'll try to include more Rokushi moments in the next chapters! And sorry if there are any type-o's, I'm really tired now, my eyes hurt :'D**


	7. Chapter 7

"She'll be fine, Xion," Aqua assured her as she scribbled some notes on a paper clipped to a clipboard. She glanced at Naminé over her shoulders and then drew the curtains of the window so that the light from the sun would not be too glaring for her.  
"Um, Miss Aqua," uttered Xion. "What exactly is wrong with Naminé?"

Aqua answered her inquiry face with a friendly smile and a ruffle on her head. "I can't tell you that," she whispered in reply. "That's Naminé's secret."

Naminé's secret? This only made Xion more curious. She watched Aqua as she arranged some bottles of medicine on the shelves and left the nursing room. Perhaps, Xion wondered, Naminé was a kindred spirit. She was hiding something to herself.

Naminé grunted as she forced her eyes to open. She sat up and scanned the room she was in. "Oh, Xion," she said feebly. "What a surprise to see you here."  
She sounded so weak, Xion could not tell whether it was sarcasm or not. She pulled a chair beside the bed for a seat to herself and gave Naminé a gentle smile.

"It really _is _a surprise, nobody visits me, usually," said Naminé. She was so casual about it.

"What about Kairi?" asked curious Xion. She knew that Kairi and Naminé were close friends, so it was an obvious curiosity. Naminé showed no signs of hesitation in answering her. "She doesn't visit me. I was always alone."

Xion kept her thoughts to herself. Why wouldn't Kairi worry about her dear friend? Then, as if she had read Xion's thoughts, Naminé continued. "I don't tell anyone about my condition. I'm a very private person."

For a 'private person', she was opening up to Xion a lot.

"Will you tell me, then?" Xion asked. Upon the shocked expression on Naminé's face, Xion disregarded her question with the wave of her arm. "I mean—it's all right if you don't want to."  
"Thank you," Naminé said softly. She did not feel comfortable to speak with Xion.

"I should get going to class, are you going to be all right, Naminé?" Xion asked to fill the silence. Naminé nodded, "I trust Miss Aqua," she said. Just then, Aqua brushed her fingers through Xion's hair as she made her way past her to Naminé's bedside.

"Thanks for bringing her," Aqua nodded at Xion and tended to Naminé. Xion wanted to stay, she was curious to know what had happened to her but she respected her privacy. She left the office.

* * *

"What happened to Naminé, Xion?" Roxas was bugging Xion as she was furiously scribbling math workings in her exercise book. She thoroughly enjoyed the topic they were currently learning and she had been ignoring Roxas' nudging and poking.

"Xion!" Roxas whined and shook her arm, messing up her working. Xion sighed, "I told you, Roxas. I don't know. She just… fell."

News about Naminé fainting in the hallway had spread among the class when Xion had to explain herself to her class teacher the reason that she was late.  
Roxas bit his lip and sighed. He was muttering something inaudible to Xion. "Why are you so bothered about it?" asked the curious Xion. She mentally slapped herself. At that precise moment, she realized that it was a sensitive topic. Roxas fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, contemplating on whether or not he should tell Xion.

He made his decision and pulled his chair closer to Xion so that his whisper was soft enough for only her.

"Things didn't really go so well at Olette's yesterday," he told her in a breathy whisper. This time, Xion did not press on for further details but Roxas explained it to her anyway.  
"Kairi might have called Naminé… she called her 'out-of-shape' and… I think Naminé's starving herself, knowing that she's very sensitive."

"That's mean!" Xion's voice had risen, attracting the teacher's attention. Xion flushed and resumed to her work. Roxas continued to grumble to himself and took out his phone, writing a text message to someone in a hurried manner.  
Xion's attention drifted away from her work. How could Kairi be such a bully? Words have so much impact on a person. That must be why Naminé's so skinny, Kairi's words must have impacted on Naminé heavily.

Xion's mood had not lifted throughout the day. She felt bad for Naminé and she felt annoyed that Kairi had bullied her. And to think that she was starting to like Kairi after Xion had escorted her through the rain the day before.

She shook her head in an attempt to stop herself from cursing Kairi in her head. School was dismissed, she had to focus on her heavy weight of homework. Monday was not going well. But again, she lost her focus when a familiar girl's laughter echoed in the hall which caused her insides to boil.

"I can't believe Naminé's actually weak!" Kairi giggled in her gossip with Olette and Hayner. Roxas must have sent the message about Naminé's incident to his friends.  
"I wonder if her legs are working," Hayner added. They made more foul comments about the incident but Xion could not make it out. She was filled with so much anger that the only thing that was going through her mind was to shut them up.

And she did.

She jumped and pinned Kairi down the floor. Olette shrieked and Hayner was at a loss of words. The red-head was trying to push Xion off of her but Xion kept tugging Kairi's shirt. Hayner was trying to break the girls apart but to no avail. Xion was strong. Perhaps her strength had come from her anger. The screaming from Kairi drew a large crowd and people were encouraging the fight. Xion did not care about the eyes set on the pair of them, anger was burgeoning inside of her. She hated this red-head with so much passion.

"Enough!" Axel's voice boomed and he separated the two with a powerful grip of his arm and lifted Xion off Kairi. Kairi was finding her balance but Xion was still desperate to get at Kairi. Axel had to wrap his arm around Xion to ensure that she doesn't cause anymore trouble to Kairi.

"I can't believe this, Xion!" Axel said very harshly to Xion. He released her after he was sure that she was calmed. Kairi and Xion were both glaring with eyes piercing each others'. They were out of breath, panting and sweating.

"She trusted you," Xion told Kairi sternly. "You were supposed to be her friend."

Kairi spat. "How do _you _know? You barely know anything."

Silence sat upon the hall. The drama between the two girls was too intense for anybody to make a sound.

"She told me," Xion continued. Her frown was hardening. "You left her alone and you made her anorexic—"

"Shut up!" Kairi screamed. "You speak as if you know us. Just because you're always hanging out with Roxas and… and Sora," her voice had cracked a little at the mention of Sora's name. She swallowed before she continued her rebuttal. "That doesn't mean you know us so stop acting like you do!"

Tears welled up in Kairi's eyes from frustration. Xion was not even angry anymore. Kairi's words were indeed strong and impactful. Kairi was somewhat right, Xion was acting as if she knew them, but in reality, she doesn't. What were their favourite colours? She did not even know. So why, why was she getting involved in their issues. She felt defeated and pushed her way out of Axel's grip, through the gossipy crowd and ran away.

* * *

Sticking a band-aid on Xion's nose bridge, Rinoa gently pressed a finger on the band-aid, earning a grunt from her daughter.

"You sure you just slipped and fell?" Rinoa questioned Xion, who was avoiding eye-contact with her mother. "Yeah…" she said. Rinoa knew that Xion was lying but she sensed the uncomfortable atmosphere around Xion and did not press further.  
"Well, if there's anything you'd like to get off your chest, you can talk to me. You have to voice out your feelings," she said and squeezed Xion's hands.

Xion only poked at the band-aid on her nose-bridge. The girls had scratched each other during their fight. She rubbed her arm where the red marks were from Kairi. Only after awhile did the silence break.

"Well, Xion?" Rinoa leant towards her daughter and tucked a few strands of Xion's hair that were over her face behind an ear. "Is there anything you'd like mommy to know?"

Xion gazed into the reflective, protuberant eyes of Rinoa, thinking of everything that was happening to her in school. Of what Kairi had said to her and how it made her reflect upon herself.  
Xion blinked herself to reality as she replied the question waiting to be answered.

"No, there isn't anything," she told her mother.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry for updating such a short chapter after months. I'm still busy with school but my reviewers kept me up and going! :D I rewrote this chapter like, many times but this was the best one because it's following the plot the most. I changed the summary for this story a little too because I realised that there wasn't much details to the story. Also, sorry for the lack of RokuShi in this chapter,I promise to add them in the next one! (: Thanks for R&R!**


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